"Intrigue. Betrayal. A devastating surprise attack and a frantic fight to survive.

Gritty warfare in space as four young officers respond to the alarm of war.

Four
officer cadets in the Victorian Fleet meet in training camp. Emily, the
young woman who dreams of becoming a Fleet historian, but discovers her
real talents lay elsewhere. Grant, the arrogant son of Victoria’s most
famous admiral. Hiram, the nervous but brilliant strategist, and Cookie,
intent on joining the Fleet Marines. Together, they survive the trials
and hardships of training to join the Fleet, unaware that that their
home is about to be plunged into a maelstrom.

For three hundred
years, the Kingdom of Victoria has enforced peace across the galaxy. But
it has grown complacent, and its enemies are ready to strike. The
Tilleke Empire and the Dominion of Unified Citizenry have been waiting a
long time, and now is their chance. As their web draws closed around
Victoria, the band of new officers find themselves on the last line of
defense. They’ve been well trained – but will it be enough to save the
kingdom?"

Alarm of War is an
interesting Weberian series debut; I read the sample and all the stuff
you find in David Weber (from wormholes to the interspersed meetings of the bad guys) is there,
so I got the book and plan to read it soon despite having lots of other
stuff to read. It moves at a good clip and I should have a review in October or November at the latest.

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"The tale of Myranda
Celeste, a young woman orphaned by a century long war, and her chance
discovery of a fallen soldier's priceless cargo. The find will change
her life, sending her on an adventure of soldiers and rebels, wizards
and warriors, and beasts both noble and monstrous. Each step will bring
her closer to the truth of her potential, of the war, and of the fate of
her world"

"The Book of Deacon" (free at the moment on Kindle or multiformat at Smashwords) is the opening novel in a trilogy that is done and published. I have just heard of this series today and I really liked the sample so I got the first book; now of course comes the tricky part, finding time to read it as I already have a few huge asap's on deck and quite a few more are due in the next two-three weeks, but hopefully I will find the time to look seriously into The Book of Deacon and report back. And of course you can try it for free at least for now!

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"Rat is no ordinary thief. A feral, filthy and malnourished child; he
haunts the streets of the medieval city Anistigh and survives on what he
can steal. When he tries to steal a purse and bungles it, a mob wants
to cut off his hand as punishment, so to save himself he slips into a
convenient shadow to hide. Rat thinks it's just another warm and
comfortable shadow cast by the sun, but a clan wizard sees him create
the shadow with his magic, an instinctive act of which Rat is unaware.
Rat's magic is subtle, but potentially quite powerful, so he is adopted
into the greatest of the Lesser Clans, adopted into a family, and given
the name Morgin.

Morgin quickly grows into manhood and the clan
teaches him wizardry and sorcery and swordsmanship. Having survived the
streets of Anistigh, Morgin is inclined to avoid conflict, would be
content to remain on the sidelines in the ever present clan rivalries.
But as a clansman he inherits the enemies of the clan, and his
shadowmagic proves to be a potent weapon. And when he comes into
possession of a powerful talismanic sword, he's thrust into the
forefront of the clan rivalries. As the ancestral conflict between the
Greater and Lesser Clans once again leads to war, not even the clans
realize that their petty little war is spawned by the primeval battle
between the righteous gods of the Celestial Plane and the fallen gods of
the Nether Plane. And Morgin learns that it is upon the Mortal Plane,
with mortal lives, and mortal pain and suffering and death; it is upon
the Mortal Plane that the gods meet and fight their wars."

Child of the Sword Book 1 of the Gods Within is another book I have just found out today and whose sample attracted me; I have not got a full copy yet, but I may do that soon as the book fills a different niche than the other fantasies I have or expect soon. The author has a sf series that seems quite interesting too as the samples of both A Choice of Treasons and The Thirteenth Man made turn the pages and read them.

2
comments:

I am almost finished with The Book of Deacon. This book is a very well written first book of a trilogy. Joseph has a new way of writing classic fantasy. A war torn world with rich characters and a great story line. This book is sure to make you want the rest of the series.